Wednesday, August 31, 2016

The federal government is stepping up its commitment to the Salton Sea and exploring the possibility of buying geothermal energy from the Imperial Valley, in a series of moves that could help fund restoration projects at California's largest lake and maybe pave the way for a multi-state agreement to use less Colorado River water.

The unveiling of those initiatives is timed to coincide with President Barack Obama's trip to Lake Tahoe on Wednesday afternoon, for the 20th annual Lake Tahoe Summit.

Today, President Obama will speak at the 20th Anniversary of the Annual Lake Tahoe Summit about the importance of partnerships and innovation in tackling our shared climate and conservation challenges.

Today, the Administration is also announcing a package of actions to marshal strong partnership and innovation in support of the communities surrounding the Salton Sea, California’s largest lake, which is facing a tipping point in environmental degradation.

Establishing a New Partnership Between the Federal Government and California to Accelerate Conservation in the Salton Sea

Announcing a $10 Million Goal for Salton Sea Efforts with the Water Funder Initiative Foundations

Advance Collaboration on Renewable Energy Development in the Imperial Valley/Salton Sea Area

Focusing on Technology Adoption and Breakthroughs to Boost the Salton Sea Economy and Clean Energy Generation

The purpose of the request is to gather industry input on options available to the federal government for a potential aggregated power purchase of 100 MW–250 MW of new construction geothermal electricity generated in the Salton Sea area, within Riverside and Imperial counties, California, for delivery over a ten-year or twenty-year contract period to serve regional federal load.

Interested parties are to submit comments electronically to Tracy (Logan) Niro. Please include "August 2016 Geothermal RFI" in the subject of the message.

One means of facilitating the development of new renewable resources is through the use of long-term power purchase contracts, whereby a third party funds, develops, operates, maintains and owns a renewable energy project, and a federal agency (or other customer) commits to purchase the energy, capacity and/or renewable energy certificates (RECs) from the project owner. For the purposes of this request, new geothermal resources are defined as those which are not in service as of the date of this request.

The funding will be for each team to fully instrument, characterize and permit candidate sites for an underground laboratory to conduct cutting-edge research on enhanced geothermal systems (EGS).

The Sandia team will be working on a site in Fallon, Nevada, and the University of Utah team will be working at a site in Milford, Utah.

The Energy Department, with the support of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), awarded funding to these two teams after a competitive first phase of research to evaluate potential EGS underground research sites.

The candidate sites announced today in Nevada and Utah will use this new funding to prepare for the competitive third phase of the FORGE effort, which will designate one of the sites as the headquarters for the future underground field lab.

A mission of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has concluded a two-week visit to Guanacaste and San Jose. A loan to develop geothermal projects was announced with a 40 year term and an interest rate of 0.6%. The new Borinquen I geothermal plant will have 55 megawatt capacity and will begin operation in 2023.Leer Mas.......

New estimate builds a case for new baseload power sources such as geothermal energy

(Courtesy CIA.gov)

The Philippines Department of Energy (DoE) expects the country’s demand for electricity in 2030 to reach 30,189 MW, or nearly 70% more than the current dependable capacity being supplied by the country’s existing power plants.

During the Senate hearing on Aug. 19, Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said the DoE’s “very raw study” had estimated the country’s demand by 2030 to grow by 10,191 MW more, assuming a gross domestic product growth forecast of 5% and a population growth of 1.5%.

The new estimate builds a case for new baseload power sources, which are currently supplied mostly by coal-fired power plants.

“Baseload is the foundation,” Mr. Cusi said, citing figures that showed 73% of the committed projects and nearly 84% of the required capacity to be coming from reliable power resources that include coal-fired power plants, geothermal facilities, biomass and nuclear, which has now become an option.

Drilling Platform is ready to receive the Geysir Drillmec HH200S Rig. Brilliant "mise en place" from the Government of Montserrat. Special thanks to the Public Works Department (PWD) for the execution and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for funding and believing. Acknowledgments to all contractors, agencies and individuals involved in this milestone.

Now, a warm welcome to Iceland Drilling Company (IDC) and the Geothermal Resources Group (GRG). Let´s keep this work team and start this new milestone to drill a challenging MON#3 well. The international geothermal community is waiting for this Montserratian and Caribbean endeavour.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Chairman of Dominica's Geothermal Negotiating Team Vince Henderson says the advancement of the country's geothermal project is one of the main reasons he is on island at present.

Henderson says he has been involved with the country's geothermal development from its inception, as he was tasked with that portfolio by then Energy Minister Reginald Austrie.

During his 2016/2017 National Budget Address, PM Skerrit announced 46.3 million dollars had been allocated towards the construction of a 7 MW geothermal plant in Dominica for a 2-year period. To date, government has spent over 80 million dollars in exploring Dominica's geothermal potential.

PLN, the country's only buyer for all electricity, must be involved in decision making for Indonesia's largest geothermal company to accelerate development, the government has argued.

"The Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Rini Soemarno wanted this acquisition to be done this year. This is her corporate decision," said Sofyan Basyir, the president director of PLN. He did not disclose the price of the acquisition.

Sofyan added that the acquisition would eventually reduce prices PLN needs to pay for Pertamina Geothermal Energy's steam, and in turn, would reduce overall energy cost. Some Pertamina Geothermal Energy's projects in the past was shafted due to PLN's refusal to commit on buying the former's steam due to high pricing.

The region could benefit from the new financing models available for the sector, according to a recent study.

In a world with an increasing need for clean energy alternatives, geothermal power is attracting attention thanks to the benefits it offers when adequately developed. It can generate electricity with less environmental impact and at a lower cost than fossil fuels such as oil and coal. And since it is a renewable energy source, it can help ensure the security of the electric power supply.

A just-released study on electricity demand details the view held by many energy observers that demand will continue to grow in New Zealand, unless the Southland aluminium smelter closes.

This Energy Outlook article explores the long-term future for electricity in New Zealand using scenario analysis. Based on this analysis, we present key insights for investors, grid planners, policy makers and consumers. It presents modelling results to 2040.

Access to New Zealand’s low-cost geothermal resource is likely to be a key factor in limiting wholesale price increases. Generators, land owners (including iwi) and government will need to continue to work together to maximize the economic, environmental and cultural benefits from geothermal resources.

The new energy conservation incentives specifically back renewably sourced thermal energy projects that use solar, geothermal or biomass directly — as long as that energy is not converted into electricity.

Energy company Geodynamics closed and remediated the sites of several test wells and generation plants in the Cooper Basin after deciding they were not financially viable.

"The technology worked but unfortunately the cost of implementing the technology and also the cost of delivering the electricity that was produced to a market was just greater than the revenue stream that we could create," Geodynamics chief executive Chris Murray said.

"I think it was talked up too much — it's a very nice concept on the front page of a newspaper, looks very easy to do, and I think it was over-spruiked [~ Repetitive promoting of an achievement or occurrence to the point of nausea and disinterest, particularly by a Government]," he said.

"If we could see [geothermal] as some kind of national resource, and therefore it's some kind of national research project, there is a vast amount of energy that could be potentially unlocked."

Part of the toy firm’s new Volcano Explorers campaign, Ruzo will feature in the new sets that are being incorporated into school teaching plans as part of the initiative to encourage kids’ into scientific exploration.

The campaign will see its official launch on September 29th, when Ruzo will attend a media event at The Geological Society of London in Piccadilly.

Following this, the children’s magazine National Geographic Kids will be supporting the partnership with a special feature in its Forces of Nature issue, featuring volcano tips, reader question and answers and the chance to win the new LEGO City Volcano Explorers collection.

LEGO City is also working with the British Geological Survey in a public programme to include volcanology videos, a schools geology competition and inclusion at regional Dynamic Earth events as well as social media targeting.

“I loved playing with LEGO since I was a kid, so the chance to work with LEGO City Volcano Explorers is a boyhood dream come true,” said Ruzo.

“As a geothermal scientist heavily involved in science education, the announcement of a geology inspired LEGO theme was a thrilling surprise I was not expecting.

“I have been taking the sets into the field with me and the combination of LEGO and volcanoes presents endless possibilities for hands-on educational opportunities to show kids how amazing our home planet is.”

Monday, August 29, 2016

Reno, Nevada based ElectraTherm, has announced that its Power+ Generator™ 4400 commissioned in April 2016 in the city of Beppu, Japan has exceeded 3,000 of operational runtime.

The Power+ runs off low temperature geothermal steam from a small district heating system. As the Power+ generates power, it also provides cooling with zero environmental impact or imposition on the onsen’s primary function as a community resource. The power generated is sold to the local utility at an attractive feed-in-tariff rate for renewables.

ElectraTherm utilizes Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) and proprietary technologies to generate up to 110kWe of electricity from low temperature water ranging from 77-122°C. At this site, the onsen provides varying flows of geothermal steam at approximately 110°C. Unlike other renewable sources, geothermal heat is baseload, providing a continuous hot water flow with power generation capabilities 24/7. Hot geothermal water is the fuel used to create a high pressure vapor that expands through ElectraTherm’s patented twin screw power block, spinning an electric generator to produce clean electricity while simultaneously cooling the water up to 20°C.

The heat generated by tube trains, industrial machinery and geothermal energy could be utilized to provide warmth to thousands of homes in the UK. This is part of the government-backed plans to expand "heat networks".

About 80% of the UK homes are currently heated by gas-fired boilers. However, these are required to be replaced by greener sources to allow Britain meet its climate change targets, which require a reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. Hence, more than 30% of local authorities in England and Wales are now said to be drawing up new greener schemes for heating homes in the country.

Some of the new schemes are said to be aimed at making changes to these heat networks, which transport hot water or steam through insulated pipes to provide warmth to homes. An example would be that in Stoke-on-Trent, where plans are being developed to use renewable geothermal heat from deep underground. The council here is also said to be considering the option of recycling heat from pottery kilns from the ceramics industry.

This is your opportunity to work within our team of leading geothermal industry professionals. Our Geothermal Resources team, explore, develop and manage geothermal resources to ensure their long term sustainable use. As the Reservoir Modelling Engineer you will develop and use geothermal reservoir models to provide insight into future reservoir performance. We are looking for someone who can take the lead and further enhance our reservoir modelling capability.

Key responsibilities of this role include promoting the use of geothermal reservoir modelling tools across the Geothermal Resources and Development team and interacting with contractors providing specialist geothermal reservoir modelling services to ensure that their outputs are appropriate to meet Contacts requirements. Your expertise will provide guidance to system management and our future geothermal investment strategy.

The successful candidate will have strong analytical and research skills with the ability to initiate discussion based on findings. You will be someone who has an advanced understanding of geothermal reservoir modelling techniques with skills and experience in commercially available modelling tools such as (TOUGH2, MULGraph, PetaSim, PyTOUGH, ARANZ Geo, etc). You will be degree qualified and a relevant post-graduate qualification in Engineering, Geoscience or Applied Mathematics is highly desirable.

Mercury director Mike Allen has advised that he will step down from the company’s Board on 3 November 2016, after seven years’ service.

Chair Joan Withers says during Dr Allen’s time on the Board the business has evolved significantly. His deep expertise in geothermal development had seen him play a key role in both the company’s domestic and international geothermal programs.

During his tenure Mercury completed two major geothermal developments in New Zealand which have contributed to geothermal growing to become New Zealand’s second-largest electricity fuel source.

Mrs Withers says the company has no immediate plans for further geothermal development in New Zealand and decided to exit its international geothermal development interests following a review of investment priorities in 2013.

Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced a bold new African infrastructure plan worth US $10 billion over the next three years to be implemented by the African Development Bank (AfDB), raising the stature of the Abidjan-based financial institution in achieving Africa's development.

The infrastructure investment package announced by the Japanese Prime Minister will focus on modernizing electricity, power and urban transport systems in order to improve the connectivity of Africa.

The Japanese Prime Minister said the support package aims to increase the electricity generation capacity by 2,000 megawatts as well as increasing the geothermal power generation using Japanese technologies. The increased power generation capacity is focused to reach 3 million households by 2022.

The remediation of the Cooper Basin has been a key focus for the company. Geothermal wells Celsius 1, Jolokia 1, Savina 1, Habanero 1 and Habanero 2 are all plugged and abandoned with surface remediation completed. Habanero 3 and Habanero 4 are currently undergoing monitoring after having the cement plugs
set. Plans for the final well barrier, surface plug and well cap for Habanero 3 and 4 are in place and will be executed once the monitoring period is successfully completed.

The remaining surface remediation of the Cooper Basin site, removal of power lines and the transfer of various operating assets to third parties is expected to be completed this calendar year.

Geodynamics has implemented the exit of all interests in the Pacific Islands geothermal projects.

The agreement will see the parties collaborate in power generation projects, including personnel development, according to statement released Sunday by the energy ministry.

Toshiba will collaborate in the development and supply of major equipment for a geothermal power plant, create operation and management guidelines, and cooperate in personnel development, the statement said.

Twenty-two Japanese companies and organizations, including Toyota Tsusho Corp., concluded Sunday a total of 73 memorandums of understanding with African governments, businesses and others on providing financial and technological assistance.

The deals, signed in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, will cover projects including geothermal power generation and urban transportation system development.

Toyota Tsusho, a trading house, concluded memorandums of understanding with the governments of Kenya and Ethiopia to strengthen cooperation in ground surface surveys for the development of geothermal power generation. From the early stages of development, the company will provide the two countries with proprietary technology that raises the success rate of test drilling.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

1st Place 2015: Drill Casings for New Geothermal Well by Cari Covell, Reykjavik University - Iceland School of Energy, Reykjavik, Iceland

The Geothermal Resources Council (GRC) is pleased to announce this year’s Amateur Photo Contest. The purpose of the contest is to showcase quality photography featuring geothermal energy around the world.

The winners will be announced at the GRC Annual Member Meeting and Awards Luncheon, the climax to the 40th GRC Annual Meeting & GEA Geothermal Energy Expo being held in Sacramento, California, USA from October 23-26. The theme for this year’s meeting is “Geothermal Energy, Here and Now: Sustainable, Clean, Flexible”.

The first place winner will receive $150, second place - $100, and third place - $75. Honorable Mention photos will receive certificates. The award checks will be drawn on a US bank.

Photographs on any subject related to geothermal energy can be submitted such as geothermal energy production, EGS, Direct Use and geothermal heat pumps. These can include photos of well testing, drilling, operation of geothermal equipment, newly developed equipment, or plant operation, construction of a geothermal plant or plant site, and geological areas or surface manifestations (holding potential for geothermal exploration or development).

Friday, August 26, 2016

That’s according to scientists from the Colorado School of Mines who presented results from their summer-long study in Rico on Thursday night.

GRC Member and Geologist Paul Morgan and economist Becky Lafrancois studied the geologic and financial aspects of a possible hot springs resort, commercial greenhouse operation, and downtown heating system. Morgan said all three options were feasible based on the temperature, depth, and quality of the water, but the cost of drilling and infrastructure would be steep. Lafrancois estimated start-up costs for all three options at more than $500,000.

Committee member Matt Downer said after the meeting that the community will digest the findings and decide how to proceed.

The concept behind CEO Aaron Mandell Mandell’s startup, Quidnet Energy, sounds simple: pumping water deep into the earth to fill up the cracks in-between rocks that previously held fossil fuels. When the pressurized water is released, it acts like a spring as it races through a turbine-generator above ground, powering it to produce electricity.

Quidnet plans to run another pilot project, this time at an old geothermal well in northern Nevada. The well is 14 inches in diameter, larger than a typical oil and gas well, making it possible to inject a higher volume of water – and generating more power faster – at any time. The reservoir can hold up to 85k barrels of water, and produce 10 hours of electricity following a 14-hour charge.

Ultimately, Quidnet hopes to build its own wells in locations with a high demand for energy storage. Each of its projects will operate up to 20 wells, with each well measuring between 1000-5000 feet deep and capable of storing 35 megawatt hours of energy. The company is also working on software for automating a storage project’s operation so that a project owner can run it remotely.

European and Mexican Earth scientists, including some from the University of Utrecht and the Netherlands Organisation for applied scientific research or TNO, have started Gemex, a project aiming to understand the potential of geothermal energy.

(Courtesy CIA.gov)

The Gemex Project is an international collaboration between the EU and Mexico in which Earth scientists from Utrecht University, among others, together with colleagues from Mexico aim to detect heat which is stored deep underground to make easier and cheaper geothermal energy.

The Earth’s crust in Mexico is different to that of the Netherlands. In Mexico, it takes a depth of just one to two kilometers to reach about 130 to 300 degrees Celsius, whereas in the Netherlands it takes at least a depth of 4 km to reach that temperature.

The Gemex Project allows for relatively shallow boring to develop knowledge for the development of ultra-deep geothermal energy in the Netherlands at a low cost.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

It’s been an awfully rough year for Alberta, with the resource-rich province currently grappling with a 31.5 per cent drop in oil prices, 39 per cent increase in unemployment and a quadrupling in the number of abandoned oil and gas wells.

But for many advocates of geothermal energy, that particular trio of stats represents a massive window of opportunity for the province, especially when paired with the government’s recent decision to phase out coal-fired power and generate 30 per cent of its electricity via renewables by 2030.

In short: retrofit old oil and gas wells to capture geothermal energy, putting thousands of tradespeople back to work, attracting billions in investments and producing baseload renewable power for the entire province.

“The market timing is better than it’s ever been, the economic forces are better than they’ve ever been and I think we’re poised for a true boom,” says Sean Collins, partner at Terrapin Geothermics.

Popular networking event for the geothermal energy industry in Sacramento, California.

Just before the start of the GRC Annual Meeting & GEA GEOEXPO+, the GRC Annual Charity Golf Tournament will take place October 23 at the William Land Golf Course just three miles from the conference site. Registration for the tournament is now open. The deadline to sign-up is September 1st.

This year the proceeds from the tournament will go to the GRC Scholarship Fund.

The William Land Golf Course is Sacramento’s oldest golf treasure. In 1911 William Land left $250,000 “to purchase a public park within a suitable distance of Sacramento to be used as a recreation spot for children and a pleasure ground for the poor.” William Land Park was established on its present site in the 1920’s and the golf course was built in 1924.

The purpose of this survey is to collect and analyze information that can help to map the currently used methods for risk assessment in the geothermal and petroleum industries and more specifically during the drilling and completion, production and maintenance phases. The findings will be communicated to the participants via a planned webinar in Fall 2016.

Please take your time to answer this survey that should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. Answers to most of the questions are given by selecting the alternative which best describes your company and its practice.

Please direct any questions or comments to the GeoWell team at IRIS. Email: GeoWell@iris.no

Following the completion of temporary piping and steamfield infrastructure, new production well SJ 9-4 was successfully connected to the San Jacinto plant on the evening of August 24, 2016 and is contributing incremental power generation of approximately 10 MW.

In light of temporary operational throughput constraints, we have not yet been able to open SJ 9-4 to 100% of its capacity. We anticipate further opening the well in a phased approach over the balance of 2016, and expect to have relieved throughput constraints following completion of a planned maintenance program in February of 2017.

Through Power Africa, USAID and MOFA seek to further align the Power Africa initiative and Japan’s relevant efforts in the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) process and will provide a foundation for collaboration in the energy sector. Through this MOC, the Government of Japan is committing to bring an additional 1,200 megawatts (MW) of power to sub-Saharan Africa by the end of 2018.

Power Africa and the government of Japan will collaborate on advancing the geothermal sector in East Africa. Recognizing that geothermal is an integral aspect of sub-Saharan Africa’s renewable energy supply, Power Africa and MOFA endeavor to support sub-Saharan African governments in developing their geothermal potential. Support may include co-leading a stakeholder coordination group, facilitating private sector-led investments, working to improve the enabling environment, and conducting strategic assessments.

The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) will inaugurate its seventh geothermal plant (Las Pailas II) in 2019. Following that, two plants at the Boriquen field will come on line in 2025. At that time, Costa Rica’s installed geothermal generation capacity will reach 372 MW.(Thanks to GRC Member Marcelo Lippmann, Staff Scientist (retired) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the submission.)

Geothermal energy, if properly developed will be able to power the industries in environmentally friendly way and will pave a way to meet the country industrialization objectives as stated in Tanzania Development Vision 2025 and as advocated by President John Magufuli.

According to the available geoscientific data and current technology, the crude estimated potential of above 5,000 MW of electricity has been established in Tanzania.

The government of Tanzania has already established the Tanzania Geothermal Development Company (TGDC), which is a subsidiary company of Tanesco and is a 100 per cent state-owned agency. The aim of TGDC is to accelerate the development of geothermal resources in the country and to realize its ambitious vision of 2025.

However, the current geothermal regulatory framework is not well coordinated. There is still no geothermal policy and no legislation that can link together all the existing structure.

Tanzania is set to implement climate change mitigation actions to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 10 to 20 percent by the year 2030 reports the Citizen.

The mitigation actions will be implemented in the energy, transport, forestry and waste management sectors, in order to achieve low emission.

Tanzania government is looking to reduce emissions in energy by exploring and investing in diversification of energy system to reduce the gas emissions and encourage economic development by making energy more available, affordable and reliable.

In addition, there will be promotion of clean energy technologies such as geothermal, wind, solar and renewable biomass.

Surmounting political obstacles to policies that have made California a national model on fighting climate change, lawmakers on Wednesday advanced a pair of bills to sustain the state’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is calling for a worldwide Expressions of Interest (EoI) to compile and expand IRENA’s vendors’ database for future consultancy services in renewable energy, which will be utilized by procurement in solicitation for future bidding requirements.

E-mail applications to the EoI shall be accepted only by filling in the information in table “A” and “B” including the certificate of registration

Dr. M. Lee Allison, State Geologist and Director of the Arizona Geological Survey, passed away Tuesday, August 16th, at noon after suffering a critical head injury from a fall at his home on Saturday.

Lee’s passing is a tragic loss for his wife, family, staff of the Arizona Geological Survey, the geologic and geoinformatics communities, and Lee’s broad circle of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances around the world. He was an incredibly dynamic leader of our agency, and a world-wide leader in many areas that were important to him. We mourn his passing, and will do our best to carry on his legacy.

There will not be a memorial service. Lee’s family has requested they not be contacted. Any messages of condolence can be addressed to AZGS team members; we will pass them along to his family.

Lee’s wife, Ann, suggested donations be made to the Association for Women Geoscientists/Salt Lake Chapter or to a scholarship fund that will be established at UMass to honor Lee.

Tiffany Lai combined two seemingly different interests, earth science and design, and created an infographic that took the top prize in a competition offered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office in partnership with the Center for Advanced Energy Studies and Idaho National Laboratory.

Of this trip, Lai stated, "My team and I are so excited and honored to attend the Geothermal Resource Council Annual Meeting in October. I really hope to learn more about geothermal energy and its benefits, as well as interact with those who are knowledgeable about this topic. The convention will have lectures and workshops about different aspects of geothermal energy, so I hope it will be a great opportunity to connect with people, learn, and have fun."

The meetings were requested by the company EDC Peru Holdings a 100 percent owned subsidiary of Energy Development Corporation Hong Kong Limited and will bring together specialists in geothermal energy to talk about the future prospects of energy development in the country.

Phinma Energy Corp. said on Tuesday that it obtained regulatory approval to change its name from Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. to Phinma Energy to better reflect its current activities.

The listed company received the approval on Aug. 22, 2016 from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or about four months after its majority shareholders approved the change in name during the annual meeting on April 12, 2016.

*Please Note: For online registrations, you will need your login id and password or you can create one if you are not in our database. If you do not know your login id or password, please contact the GRC office by phone at (530) 758-2360 ext 100 or by email at alay@geothermal.org.